{"id":833,"date":"2015-05-04T14:55:10","date_gmt":"2015-05-04T14:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/csm210469\/?p=833"},"modified":"2016-01-28T15:41:02","modified_gmt":"2016-01-28T15:41:02","slug":"big-mouth-customer-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/big-mouth-customer-service\/","title":{"rendered":"“Big Mouth” Customer Service"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CustomersWord of mouth is now the name of the customer service game.<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the fundamental building blocks of a successful business is repeat business and referrals. In order for our business to not only survive but thrive, we have to ensure that our clients and customers are totally ‘in love’ with what we do for them, so much so that they tell everyone they know!<\/p>\n

People are big mouths, and I don\u2019t mean that in a derogatory sense. Think about it: if a regular business frequently does something over-the-top for us and we\u2019re tickled pink about it, we\u2019re going to brag about it to everyone we know.<\/p>\n

Conversely, if a business does something that makes us feel wronged or taken advantage of, well, we\u2019re going to do the same thing, aren\u2019t we?
\nWe\u2019re going to tell everyone we know.<\/p>\n

These scenarios are potentially going to affect that business either in a beneficial or a detrimental way – because what we say to others is going to be shared. The people we tell are surely at some point going to relay the information (good or bad) to other people whenever that particular business name comes up.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, it\u2019s not like it will dwindle out in a week or two. Oh, no. Five years from now someone is going to relay the same story\u2026 albeit altered by time (and let\u2019s not forget how stories morph as they get ‘whispered down the lane’).<\/p>\n

So whatever business we\u2019re in, we absolutely want to provide exceptional customer service (see previous article) so the stories that are being told by our ‘big mouth’ clients are the good ones!<\/p>\n

And since these customers already adore us, why not get their endorsements in writing? Ask them to write a letter, in their own words, about how our business has helped them or why they enjoy working with us. Then utilize this letter (and all others like it) in our promotional efforts – our website, blog, Facebook page, brochures, etc.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s proven that prospects find this type of information to be more valuable in decision-making than any marketing material we may write ourselves – so capitalize on it!<\/p>\n

On the flip side to this coin, we also have to figure out which are those folks who left\u2026 and ask them why. People leave because of bad service or indifference – these things can (and better) be fixed! Yes, it may be uncomfortable to call up Mr. Jones to inquire why he no longer uses us and horrifying having to hear his reasoning.<\/p>\n

However, whatever the cause given by the customer, it\u2019s an opportunity for us to remedy it! It\u2019s a spectacular chance to make improvements we didn\u2019t even know we had to make, to raise the bar, and to help our business stand out from the crowd. So we need to embrace this constructive criticism and then thank our customer and tell him the steps we\u2019re going to take to fix the problem.<\/p>\n

Even if we have to call him back in a week to share the solutions we came up with, won\u2019t Mr. Jones be thrilled? And then won\u2019t he ‘big mouth’ about it to his buddies? You bet \u2018cha!<\/p>\n

We need to go forward with our business endeavors believing that every single thing we do has the potential to reach a multitude of people and be talked about for years to come.<\/p>\n

About the Author<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kimberly J. McCloskey<\/a>\u00a0describes herself as a “Professional Virtual Assistant and Animal-Lover Support Specialist”.\u00a0\u00a0Article\u00a0\u00a9\u00a0Kimberly J. McCloskey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Word of mouth is now the name of the customer service game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=833"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7023,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833\/revisions\/7023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}